Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is a worried man ahead of this weekend’s World Cup quarterfinals.
And the reason for his concern is replacement scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who suffered a hamstring injury in their final pool match against Canada last week.
The Bok coach explains: “We only have three scrumhalves here so we want to make sure that he rather has more recovery time. So, hopefully he is also ready to go [in training today].
“Herschel won’t go home – it’s definitely not that bad an injury. It’s not even a grade one [strain].”
Still, with Jantjies nursing an injury, Cheetahs scrumhalf and veteran Ruan Pienaar has been placed on standby.
CONCERN: Bok No.9 Herschel Jantjies. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
Luckily for Erasmus, his third-choice scrumhalf Cobus Reinach also made his stem dik in their last match, scoring the fastest hattrick in the tournament’s history.
But Jantjies isn’t the only player the coach is worried about.
After suffering an ankle injury in their clash against Italy, wing Cheslin Kolbe is another concern.
Erasmus adds of his flyer: “Cheslin has that ankle injury that he picked up against Italy, which meant he wasn’t available for the last game.
“He is still nursing that but we are hopeful that he will be training fully [today].
“There’s a very good chance that he will be available – I would say 80 to 90 percent.”
HITTING FORM: Bok Reinach. Picture: Buddhika Weerasinghe/EPA.
It doesn’t stop there for South Africa, with experienced flanker Francois Louw also nursing an injury.
Of the 34-year-old, Erasmus says: “One knee is swollen a little bit. He’s at that age where after every game, he takes a little bit longer.
“He’ll be fine. We are just managing him a little bit differently to the other guys at this stage.”